Here is a special treat for you today from British costume designer, Claire Townsend. In this video, Claire graciously shares her process for making hand-felted, hand-stitched capelets, which she sells at her Etsy store, Small Stars. Claire started making the capes as a creative outlet from her full time theater work. It’s so wonderful to watch an old thrift store sweater be transformed into playful chic apparel, replete with lace and vintage buttons! Swoon.

“My mom knew how to sew and did try to teach me how to sew, however, I’m not very good at taking direction … Everything I make, I make as if for myself. And so I try and make it as wonderful and beautiful as I can, and then I decide to not get precious about it and let it go. I do try to think of characters when I’m creating these pieces. I really love fairy tales, and so I like to try and think of my capelets as belonging to modern versions of fairy tale characters.”